Unit 2 Bureaucracy

After a hard-fought election, President Greene appoints a major campaign donor as ambassador to Greece.

This is an example of which of the following concepts?

• Patronage

• Civil service

• Specialization

• Corruption

The House Committee on Veterans Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) work together to achieve policies that benefit veterans.

This is an example of which of the following?

• Corporate lobbies

• Political action committees

• Issue networks

• Iron triangles

Which of the following is a consequence of the merit system in the bureaucracy?

• Greater fragmentation in the bureaucracy

• Greater inefficiency in the bureaucracy

• Greater loyalty to the president’s party in the bureaucracy

• Greater professionalism in the bureaucracy

The Environmental Protection Agency issues a fine to a factory that is not complying with federal regulations on the maximum number of pollutants it can release into the atmosphere.

This is an example of which of the federal bureaucracy’s responsibilities?

• Enforcement

• Congressional oversight

• Testifying before Congress

• Rulemaking

Which of the following is the best example of an issue network?

• A national organization committed to influencing legislation to promote small businesses

• Government and private groups opposed to a proposal to run a pipeline through Native American land

• A Congressional subcommittee on issues facing senior citizens

• An independent executive agency regulating telecommunications

Congress passes a law reducing the amount of violence that children can be exposed to on television.

Which of the following actions can the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take to implement this measure?

• Write guidelines about how much violence can be depicted during times children are likely to be watching TV

• Lobby Congress to decrease federal funding for TV networks that broadcast violent TV shows

• Refuse to air violent TV shows on their broadcast networks

• Issue an executive order banning the production of violent TV shows

Which of the following statements explains how Congress can use its power of the purse to restrict presidential power?

• Congress allocates funds for presidential campaigns and can restrict funds to the president’s party

• Congress determines the president’s salary and can cut it based on performance

• Congress drafts and passes a federal budget, which does not require presidential approval

• Congress can deny requests for funds to executive agencies during the budget process

Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which gave the federal government the power to monitor and limit emissions of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. In 2003, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Clean Air Act does not give it the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The EPA’s decision to regulate some emissions but not others is an example of which of the following?

• The discretionary authority that individual bureaucrats and agencies have to make choices about how to implement existing laws

• An iron triangle relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional subcommittees to promote a common cause

• Bureaucratic rulemaking authority to write specific regulations in order to enforce laws

• The collaboration between an issue network of experts and stakeholders to create specific policy

Members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure are concerned over increased accidents on national highways.

Which of the following is an action the committee can take to address the problem?

• Replacing the secretary of the Department of Transportation with a member on the committee

• Confiscating funds from the Department of Transportation until problems are resolved

• Disbanding the Department of Transportation and allocating their responsibilities to other executive departments

• Holding a hearing and subpoenaing high-level officials of the Department of Transportation

In 1975, Congress passed the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, which gave the Department of Transportation the power to regulate the transport of potentially hazardous materials, including radioactive materials. In response, the Department of Transportation set regulations on vehicles transporting hazardous materials, such as requiring additional labels on shipment trucks that warn other vehicles that there is hazardous material in the truck.

The action taken by the Department of Transportation is an example of which of the following?

• A law created by the president and implemented by a bureaucratic agency without congressional approval

• A permanent change to the Constitution of the United States

• A guideline issued by the federal bureaucracy, which provide specific details about how a policy will be implemented

• A written pronouncement issued by the president after signing